


Bad End

by sakuyamons



Category: Digimon - All Media Types, Digimon Tamers
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Doomed Timelines, F/F, Gen, POV Alternating, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-11
Updated: 2016-10-08
Packaged: 2018-07-22 21:23:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7454428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sakuyamons/pseuds/sakuyamons
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>This is not a true ending!</em>
  <br/>
  <em>Please try again with a friend.</em>
</p><p>It's hard to be happy that your best friend comes back to you when every night you dream about them killing you.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue: Megidramon i

**Author's Note:**

> Loosely based off Stephen King's Cujo.
> 
> I still haven't finished chapter one lol.

He was always sleeping.

He was synonym of death even when he slept, the very definition of corrupted power, that had Master and no Master at the same time - the most feared of the beasts among the _leftovers_ of this world – with reason, although, as one of his...

(Partners? The word opens up too many things that should be forgotten. Things that he already forgot, or that he says he did.)

His companions had said once, all the weaklings had died and the survivors were strong  _ or  _ smart enough to know how to back down and live in fear until Master  _ (corrupted)  _ saved them.

He had also being a weakling once – digimon should have the same perception of time as humans, but he vaguely remembers those times, he only remembers that when Master had arrived at the Digital World and carved his seed into his brain there was only pain and anger – anger at whichever was happening, anger at their ‘healthy’ friends (that fell under it too, not so much later, perhaps he was the cause, he cared little about it), and later towards his Master.

Perhaps it wasn’t Master’s seed, he only enforced the feelings that had been there before, he remembers feeling  _ abandoned  _ – the name of the human escapes him now, but that doesn’t matter, if the human had not created him, he wouldn’t be suffering like that (because even in his sleep he was in pain), not only that, but the human was probably being happy – not worrying about  _ his creation’s  _ pain, the human had tried to contact a couple of times and then he stopped doing it, in that moment, the Digimon realized he had become an afterthought, because humans always grow up just like Digimon evolve, but the difference is that humans forget while they don’t.

And was that pure, raw hatred towards his  _ creator,  _ which had made him reach evolution that ultimately lead him to Megidramon, the ruler of whatever was left of the Digital World.

“We are going back to the human world.” If Master had emotions, he’d say _it_ was excited “Remember the last time you and the others went back?”

He does and doesn't, he doesn’t remember exactly how did he evolve, but he remembers the taste of human blood on his mouth and the sound of bones being crushed and how his brain went to a turmoil of emotions that he still cannot comprehend, the only thing he remembers of the human world is the sound of goggles shattering and evolution.

Evolution is normally a painful process, your data is decoded  - meaning that for a crucial matter of minutes, you stop existing and then you exist again, as another entity, in a normal evolution despite being a different being, you act the same as you did before, the dark evolution is different, because it works only based off negative emotions, and now, on all his destructive glory, Megidramon was always angry - even in dreams, he had been born because of hatred and he’d die because of hatred.

“There isn’t much to destroy now.” Master explains “Most of Shinjuku went down in flames last time we went there, but…” if Master had a physical form, he’d say that _it_ was smiling “I think I can find a way to do a little trip, I’m sure you would love to see your previous master again.”

Since Master was omnipresent, he could only suppose that he had had the same conversation with the rest of the army.

“Wake up, Megidramon.”

Master’s voice sounded like a most grave - most mature version of the voice of a boy that he vaguely remembers. 

And since it was _it’s_ orders, _his_ orders, he simply couldn’t disobey.

  
He let the remnants of the Digital World know that he was awake with a roar.


	2. Takato I

_When he was starting to gain consciousness already, his first thought was that it was too late._

_Too late for what?_

_To escape._

_There is a key difference between fear, terror, and horror, fear is the perception of a threat or danger, psychologists say that fear is necessary because fear helps you to keep yourself alive, either by fly or fight, it depends of what originates it, terror and horror, however are a bit different despite they derive from fear, terror was being anxious or nervous of something before it happened, while horror was the revulsion after said shocking event happened._

_But he was no psychologist, all he knew was that it was too late, and he was terrified._

_Running away was meaningless, but even though he wanted to do it, he couldn’t, he was paralyzed - he didn’t know if something had happened to his legs, or if it was due to the body’s reaction, yet still, the stubborn human in him, the one that refused to die, started to crawl away, despite knowing how useless it was._

_It was too late._

_Too late for what?_

_To tell the others._

_To alert them, like the D-Arc’s irregular beeping had alerted him, how the black screen with the message ERROR had do it, but he had paid attention to it too late, he knew that Jian was out of town but Ruki didn’t carry her D-arc with her anymore so she could not be alerted, a voice on his head told him that it didn’t matter, due that it was too late for them as well._

_The roar of a monster made him turn his head around, Blackgrowlmon’s eyes focused on the teenager as one of his arms went to grab him._

_Blackgrowlmon grabbed him like he was a toy, with one of his claws he picked him from his school jacket and while the boy had his eyes closed, he knew that Blackgrowlmon was looking at him like a predator observed it’s prey._

_It was too late._

_Too late for what?_

_He felt the Digimon’s mouth open up and it’s disgusting breath surrounded him._

_Too late for everything._

 

* * *

 

He woke up screaming - but it wasn’t his screams the reason he woke up, it was the uncomfortable wet spot on his pants.

His first thought in the morning? _Oh no._

His heart was beating too fast and his throat felt raspy and he wondered how strongly he had screamed and most important, for how long? His parents must be off because elsewhere he’d be trying to explain something that he wasn’t sure he could share, he could only be thankful that the dream was over and his parents were doing whatever they had to do, besides not wanting to explain his nightmare, he didn’t want to explain his wet bed.

He tried his best to ignore his dream – nightmares weren't strangers to Takato, even after four years, the D-Reaper had plagued his dreams in all ways possible, they were starting to fade now, but at the same time, when those nightmares happened, they came back stronger than ever, like a painful reminder _hello tamer, your Digimon might not be with you, but I am still here, I’ll always stay here_.

After he put his sheets on the washing machine, he confirmed with a sigh of relief that his parents weren’t at home, probably getting ingredients - today was Sunday and they didn’t work on Sundays, which meant that he could grab all the bread he wanted with no restrictions, bread with cheese and lettuce wasn’t something healthy, but it filled his stomach and he could eat better at lunch.

Perhaps today could be one of those days where he could stay at home playing with his used PlayStation console, he didn’t had homework (or at least, he didn’t remember, and being friends with Jian kinda helped him to remember those things) and he really wanted to forget about the dream, so he went back to his room and pressed the button, to be greeted by the PlayStation 2 logo.

The disk that was on the console was a football game - he really wasn’t a fan of football, or any sports and it wasn’t even his, Hirokazu brought it to his house one day and they played it, and forgot to take it back home with him and well, Takato forgot to give it back to him because he forgot he had it, but he supposed that it was good for killing time.

He was choosing a team to play with (despite he had a very limited knowledge of football teams, only the international ones and a few ones that his classmates talked in school) and was going to choose the default rival when he heard his cellphone ring.

It was Ruki, which was rare on itself because Ruki rarely called, in any case he was the one that called her and it would be on an emergency status - which made Takato’s brain go on red alert, he hoped nothing bad had happened, nightmares didn’t mean bad days - but he’d be damned if he doesn’t think a nightmare can ruin a day.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Takato-kun!”

It was relieving that it was Juri’s cheerful voice that was talking through the other side of the phone, she probably picked Ruki’s cellphone while the other one was distracted and decided to call Takato just for the sake of it.

“Katou-san! How are you? Is Ruki with you?”

“Yes! I’m at her house at the moment, do you want to talk to her? Ruki, say hi!”

He overheard another girl’s voice - that was most definitely Ruki saying Hi and another bunch of stuff he couldn’t understand, so he assumed she was talking to Juri, the last thing he heard about the conversation was Juri saying to her ‘see you soon’ before returning to her conversation with Takato.

“Sorry, she went out.”

“She went out and left you alone at her house?”

“Well - if I’m going to be honest, I have been here since 8 A.M.”

“WHAT? I-It’s almost afternoon, Katou-san.”

“I shouldn’t tell you this, but Ruki is incredibly lazy, so her grandma told me to come here around 8 a.m to wake her up so she could do the house chores because she was going out."

Takato felt an uncontrollable urge to laugh, and the only reason he didn’t it was because he was the exact same and as illogical as it sounded, because he was scared Ruki could hear him, even if she couldn’t because she didn’t had superhearing as far as he was concerned.

“I-I b-bet she told you to fuck off.” His stutter was making it obvious that he was trying not to laugh.

“Not really! The correct reaction was…” And so, Juri did an exact imitation of her friend “ _Juri, what the fuck_?”

He couldn’t hold his laughter anymore, and Juri also laughing at the other side it didn’t help.

“So, you’ve been helping her?”

“Actually more of a motivator! She hasn’t let me do any chores because it wasn’t my house, so I just stare at her and play games of her phone while she does all the hard work. She left to get some food from the delivery that’s like two blocks away from her house.”

“Katou-san, I’m sorry to tell you this, but Ruki doesn’t eat junk food.”

“I might be...corrupting her a bit. Or that’s what she says, anyways I... _SHIT_.”

“W-W-W-What?”

“I FORGOT THAT I’M USING RUKI’S PHONE, SO I CAN’T CALL HER TO TELL HER WHAT DO I WANT, and you can be sure she didn’t pick my phone because she rarely carries hers! Let me catch her, she told me to tell you something but I forgot already. Call you later!”

“Goodbye!”

As the girl hung up, Takato sighed - he was sighing a lot today, but this one was a happy sigh, he still had a crush on her, but it was started to vanish, yet every time she laughed she found a way to send butterflies on his stomach that made him almost forget his dream, so he resumed his original goal of playing this videogame, he was glad he was alone, because he couldn’t score a damn goal against the CPU on easy. No wonders why a sleep deprived Kenta scored three goals past him the other time he came around, he wondered where were his other games - probably around or under his desk, he wasn’t very organized on that.

After fifteen minutes or so - the phone rang again, this time it was Juri’s number, so he picked it up before the second ring happened.

“Hello Katou-san!”

“It’s Ruki, gogglehead.”

Juri must have been by her side though, because he could hear her laughter, and the only acceptable comeback it came to his mind at this moment was

“I don’t use goggles on my head anymore.”

“...You truly need to get better comebacks, kid, even Kitagawa could’ve saying something better than that.”

“Don’t call me kid, you’re younger than me and -”

He was going to add why she was calling by Juri’s phone instead of hers or if she liked mayonnaise on her teriyaki burger, but he could bug her with that later, Ruki didn’t call anyone if it wasn’t necessary and not even Juri could bug her to it, so instead, he said.

“Katou-san said she had to say something to me but she forgot.”

“Yeah. Well, it’s not me who’s going to say it, it’s Jian. Come to my house around maybe...one hour. It’s about Digimon. See you.”

“See y-”

She hung up.

One day, he hoped she learned some manners, like saying _hello, how are you_ and _goodbye, see you soon_ to your friends.

But - that didn’t matter, what was important was Digimon.

* * *

 

If Jian was the one that brought the news - it should mean that it was something important, obviously they had promised to do everything that was on their hands to meet their friends again, and they tried, every summer of every year they tried to find places (as small as they were) that connected with the Digital World but every time they found them, the spots had been closed by Yamaki-san, despite he was never at the scene, they knew it was him and maybe Jianliang’s dad, but that was something that went unsaid.

On the early days of their failed plans, Takato had been angry, he didn’t care if the world was in danger again! They could save it again, he just wanted to see his best friend, but now that he’s a bit older, he admits begrudgingly that they do have good reasons, that didn’t really stop him or his friends though.

Perhaps he felt bad because Jian was the smart one of the group, not that him and Ruki weren’t, but Jian was the better one with computers, and perhaps he felt a bit more responsibility than the others, sometimes he felt more of a moral support than an actual help at times.

He left a note saying that he was out hanging out with his friends today, and he’d be back later.

Despite how much he had been disappointed at times when their reunion plans failed, this time he was actually excited - he was always excited at the prospect to see Guilmon again, he hadn’t sent a message since a year after the departure, but that’s because every time he failed when he tried to say anything other than an ‘I miss you’ and he didn’t want to worry Guilmon when he heard his voice break.

He was still a very emotional kid.

* * *

Something worse than eavesdropping? Eavesdropping and not understanding what they were talking about.

Although Ruki might say otherwise - girls are complicated, she says that they are not complicated, that he (and Hirokazu and Kenta, sometimes Jian was left out of her insults) were just stupid - and she might be partially right, but she has to admit that she is complicated to deal with.

And though he knows Ruki and Juri have grow up to be very close - hell, Takato and Juri go to the same school but Ruki and Juri saw each other almost every single day, he stopped counting the times Juri had refused to hang with Hirokazu, Kenta and him because she had to go accompany Ruki to a photoshoot so her friend wouldn't be miserable - right now they seemed to have something that sounded like an argument, but he didn’t know the context, Ruki saying something about influences and Juri denying it.

When she opened the door, she stared at him for a matter of seconds before she greeted him.

“Gogglehead, you’re early.” She was genuinely surprised.

“Hel-”

“Hi Takato-kun, tell her I’m not a bad influence and she’s being silly.” Juri interrupted

“Don’t get Matsuda into this.”

“Emmm...hi” Takato greeted awkwardly “Where’s Jian?”

“Not here.”

“I hope he’s okay, he’s never late.”

“He’s actually meant to be here in like, 30 minutes or so, I didn’t expect you to be on time.”

What?

Did Ruki had so little faith in him that she made him come 30 minutes early so he would get in time? He could feel his cheeks turning red - he doesn’t even know if it’s out of embarrassment or anger, he arrives late to a movie _once_ and Ruki permanently thinks that he’s going to always be late?

“Isn’t she mean?” Juri intervened, clearly feeling sympathetic for Takato.

“Yes, she is.” Takato agreed as he took his shoes off.

“Yes, I am.” The good thing about Ruki is that she didn’t deny that she could be mean, awareness was a good thing “I don’t think you were doing anything interesting, anyway. We have tea on the refrigerator, Juri made it, and I still have a bit of the trash Juri made me eat early if you want to finish it.”

“She liked it more than she’d admit.” Juri grinned.

“Could’ve worse.” She admitted “But you know how bad that stuff is for your organism?”

“Ummm…” Takato tried to interrupt the conversation - feeling like a third wheel, but decided against it at the end, they were going to tell him to shut up anyways.

“It’s not like I always eat it, I just like to make you try new things, you know, since you’re so pretentious - am I right, Takato-kun?”

He didn’t know what to say, theoretically Juri was right, but in practice Ruki would send him a glare that would make him exit the house, go back to his apartment and call Jian later to get the news, luckily for him, Ruki cut him off again before he could even speak

“Don’t get gogglehead into this, and I’m not pretentious.”

Juri did a fake shocked gasp that could have been convincing if the nature of this argument wasn’t as absurd as it was.

“You are not?”

“Don’t play dumb with me.”

Takato wishes he had arrived late.

“No, I mean, I only _thought_ you were because every time I ask you what you’re listening to you always answer you wouldn’t know this band, I thought only pretentious people did that.” She turned to see Takato with a smile “Don’t you think so, Takato-kun?”

“Eh…She’s right.”

“Did someone ask you?”

“Katou-san did.” He hoped he wouldn’t die for saying the truth.

As stated before, arguing with Ruki was difficult - but surprisingly enough Juri seemed to know how to argue back, which was a skill that he’d only seen in Jian before (although the argument was dumb), if Jian were here, he’d probably be laughing alongside Takato, but he knows if he laughs...well, Ruki will kick his ass right to the Digital World, considering how much he wants to see Guilmon, that didn’t sound like a bad idea.

“See? I told you, you are pretentious.”

Ruki rolled her eyes and Juri clapped her hands together and gave her a smile that was almost apologetic.

"But, if you weren’t the way you are, we wouldn’t be best friends, my _pretentious best friend,_ don't be mad.”

“I guess I could say the same.” And by the tone of her voice, Takato could get that she wasn’t mad, just a bit annoyed “You’re still an awful influence though.” She finished with a playful grin on her face that she usually used when she called Takato a dumb gogglehead.

“I’m not a bad influence!”

“Whoa.” Takato couldn’t help to say what it was very obvious “You girls are very close.”

Ruki seemed to have a sarcastic reply ready to be unleashed, but Juri interrupted again.

“Yes! We are best friends! Though you are my best friend too.”

Takato wondered if it was a girls thing to be at each other’s homes almost every weekend and having silly arguments that always ended back on the point of origin, he would feel weird going at Hirokazu’s home every week and he's sure he'd get his ass kicked if he dared to do it - he supposes that boys like to have their own spaces while girls tended to be closer.

He’s going to ignore the warm feeling on the stomach about Juri calling him best friend, though.

Ruki’s phone vibrated on the table - but she didn’t bother to look at it.

“That’s Jian.”

“It could be your mom.” Takato pointed out.

“It’s Jian, my mom doesn’t text.”

“The apple doesn’t fall away from the tree.”

The girls stared at each other in disbelief and then then stared at him, Ruki didn't even sound annoyed, she sounded surprised.

“...Okay, that was a good one.”

He doesn’t know if he should be insulted of how surprised they looked, he could sometimes be witty too!

* * *

 

Jian looked hopeful - which was good news.

He and Shaochung had a talk with his dad and he had in essence told them to give up (as Jian recited the scene, he clenched his fists as an automatic response) that it was impossible without bringing other dangerous Digimon and perhaps something more - the Digital World had to be more than the Digital Monsters.

Takato tried to re-imagine what would happen if Yamaki-san had said that to them, it would have probably gotten ugly.

But Jian - who was amazing for keeping the calm in moments where it was required - said that they just couldn’t do it, that would feel like betrayal - like they would _forget_ about them and Shaochung had obviously agreed with her brother on this topic.

“He said he shouldn’t say this, but...we are special. Takato-kun is special.”

“M-me?”

“Well, you were the first to get to Ultimate.” Juri pointed out.

“I guess.”

He wouldn’t say it, but he knew that when someone mentioned Ultimate, Jian and Ruki thought about SaintGargomon and Sakuyamon - which made sense, not only were the strongest level that their Digimon could archive (as they know) and also a reminder about how strong the bond with their digimon was, but for Takato it was slightly different, first he thought about Megidramon and his dangerous rage - the rage that came from him, and that he almost destroyed Guilmon and the Digital World, followed by Dukemon’s birth that made the eased the memory a little.

If he met Guilmon again, he’s absolutely sure he would evolve to Dukemon with no problems but in the back of his mind, _he_ always was there...almost like _he_ was ready to appear if Takato were to give up.

“We all know gogglehead is special, he made his Digimon.” Ruki spoke “But, if he’s so special, then why are you and I needed to open a portal?”

“Though Takato-kun is special, he cannot do it alone and well...we are special too.”

“Should we call Dumb and Dumber?” Ruki was obviously referring to Hirokazu and Kenta “Gogglehead, Jian, Shaochung, Dumb and Dumber and me...and maybe the brats.”

“Who are the brats?” Jian asked

“Impmon’s Tamers, I don’t know their names.” The girl shrugged “Juri, are you coming?”

Perhaps it wasn’t a good idea to discuss Digimon and how _specia_ l Tamers were in front of Juri, she was smiling but all of them could get that the topic still made her uncomfortable (what a big understatement) he didn’t know if he could comfort her, or even if she wanted comfort, but he tried to do it anyways.

“U-Um...you don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

“I want to go.” Juri’s tone was decisive, despite that everyone on the room could feel the tension “But it’s not like I could do something.”

Takato, Jian and Ruki exchanged stares.

They all seemed to have the same reaction: _Shit._

“...What?” Juri seemed to be annoyed at their silence when they hadn’t stopped interrupting each other minutes ago “Keep talking.”

Should they just leave the topic as it was and continue?

“Um...Katou-san…”

“Listen, Juri” Ruki interrupted, her hand on Juri’s shoulder “Takato is right, you don’t need to come if you don’t want to.”

“I’m fine, don’t worry about it.”

Ruki and Takato interchanged looks and if he read her correctly, she seemed to think that it was okay to let her be for now, it’s not like they had any better options, Takato nodded at Jian, telling him it was okay to continue.

“W-We can try to open the gate to the digital world with our D-Arcs.”

“Like it happens on the anime?” Takato asked.

Ruki did the longest sigh Takato had heard on his entire life.

“Guys, please focus.” Takato knew that deep down his friend had also realized the connection “Unlike in the anime, it’s not something we can open every time we want to, I didn’t really understand, but it would mean it would be open until Yamaki-san finds it.”

“And how are we going to avoid him?” Ruki asked “He is shady, and has stopped our plans more than once.”

It doesn’t help that he was a grown man and they were teenagers.

“You guys can leave that to me.” And by the way Jian spoke, Takato felt this time wasn’t going to be in vain “But first we must tell our digimon friends about the idea…have you both send messages lately?”

“No.” Takato admitted, feeling guilty.

“Neither have I, but I'm sure Renamon has better things to do that check a voicemail.”

“Should we move this conversation to my house? That way you can tell our Digimon what is our plan.”

“We could have this conversation in your house to start with, genius.” Ruki pointed out.

Jian grinned.

“It was more likely that Takato-kun listened to your threats to get to your house early than my pleads.”

The three of them started laughing, Takato didn’t consider it funny though, he didn’t say it outloud but he was sure Taichi wouldn’t be treated like this.

“Jian!”

“I’m joking, I’m joking!” He said while laughing “It’s Ruki’s fault, she’s awfully mean and it’s contagious.”

“I told you that you were the bad influence here.” Juri said, clearly more cheerful as than she was before.

“...Shut up Juri.”

It was now his time to join the laughter, even Ruki was smiling.

* * *

 

Juri was absolutely decided to go with them, but apparently she had to take care of her little brother while her dad worked in the bar and her step-mom had to go out to meet with a friend that was on the hospital.

After a ten-minutes discussion between them Ruki and Juri, Juri agreed that one of them accompanied her to the subway station.

Takato and Jian stepped out, not wanting to get into that territory (Takato only experienced it once and honestly? Never again.) He was siding with Ruki on this one, because Juri shouldn’t go all on her own, not that he is worried about her (which he was, but it was another topic enterely), but girls shouldn’t go alone all on their own, but Juri seemed to think they were overreacting and he’s sure he heard her name on the argument, and all that Jian and Takato did was stare at each other until Ruki stepped out and said.

“Gogglehead, you’re accompanying Juri to the station.”

He supposed it wasn’t subtle at all how he grabbed Ruki by the arm and dragged her to speak in private, but he talked before she could even say anything.

“I thought you were going to -”

“I _was_ going to.” Ruki interrupted “But I think she’s annoyed at me for not letting her go alone” Ruki rolled her eyes, and Takato almost pointed out that Ruki would be annoyed too “And you know I can be kinda mean and don’t say nothing or I send Jian instead.” He closed his mouth immediately “And well, I really don’t want to hurt her feelings on a discussion about something serious. So, you’ll do it, are sensible, consider it a gift from me, I’ll give you time to be romantic”

He doesn’t know if she meant it just to annoy him or that she was actually setting him up.

“W-we a-a-are just friends.”

“And you don’t want to be something more?”

She had a perfectly good point there.

They were silent for a couple of minutes before Ruki told him that they needed to get back where their other two friends were, since dragging your friend by the arm to talk was a very suspicious act and the longer they took to get back, they were looking even more suspicious.

But before, he had to ask something - he doesn’t know if Jian is a more suited candidate for this question, but Ruki is his friend as much as Jian is, and the only reason he hadn’t asked before is because he didn’t want to look like a paranoid guy in front of Juri.

“Ruki, have you had nightmares lately?”

If she hasn’t, she is going to answer with a sarcastic joke and some reference about when he dreamed about her three years ago, if she is, then it’s something worth worrying about, he knows she doesn’t talk about feelings, but if two of them share a nightmare, then the three of them share it and that’s not good at all.

“What kind of nightmares?”

“Ummm...Digimon are on it.”

Ruki crossed her arms and shot him an unimpressed look.

“No, no nightmares....why do you ask?”

“N-No, nothing.”

Part of him was relieved that it was just him and that it was probably a silly dream.

Yet, part of him couldn’t help but think about the possibility that Ruki was lying.


	3. jianliang I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They put the plan to bring their partners back, and Jian sees himself on the train.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i have no idea how metro stations work at japan.

 

“Jian, have you got nightmares lately?”

Neither him or Ruki were really talkative, so their travel back to Jian’s house had been mostly in silence and each of them on their phones, he wasn’t alarmed when she suddenly spoke - but was slightly surprised, Ruki rarely starts conversations and even rarer were those opportunities when if she started the conversation there was no insult on the sentence.

What really surprised him was that she wanted to talk about nightmares.

“Nightmares? Nothing worth mentioning.”

If Ruki mentioned nightmares, it was probably about digimon.

“It’s just that Takato asked me about it, thought it was weird, so I came to ask you, just in case.”

“What was your answer?”

“That no, no nightmares in a while - haven’t have a bad nightmare since almost a year ago.” Ruki shrugged, but then decided to talk again “I did have a weird dream, though, but it wasn’t worth telling him.” If she thought of telling him, then it was probably worth telling “It’s weird, nothing happens in the dream but I feel something will happen, something bad, and then I wake up.”

“No digimons?”

“No. But I wasn’t carrying my D-Arc with me on my dream.”

Jian didn’t point out that she rarely carried it on her belt anymore like she used to do, and even now, the D-Arc is in her backpack but she isn’t carrying her card deck with her - not something to call her out on, he didn’t either- because none of them played the card game anymore and the last time Takato mentioned something about a tournament, Ruki loosely replied that she wasn’t interested.

Games are boring when you try the real thing.

“Maybe it’s a metaphor for growing up?” Jian asked “Not carrying your digivice...you could see it like you’re abandoning your childhood?”

“We are fourteen, dumbass.”

“But we are growing up, nevertheless.”

“So is trying to get them back an attempt to bring back our childhood?”

Jian grinned.

 

“It’s possible, but your dream is a metaphor and what we are going to attempt to do is the real deal.”

Ruki grinned back.

“Can’t argue against that.”

They? Not arguing? That was rare but nice for a change.

* * *

Ruki is used to have her own space, she always has, her mother is a model so she’s always busy and grandma pretty much lets her do what she wants claiming that she had to live her youth and that it was alright as long as it wasn’t dangerous - she also has the privilege that shares with Takato of being only children.

What privilege?

That since they are teenagers and responsible ones at that, sometimes their parents would leave them alone in charge of the house while they did the boring adult stuff.

Jianliang had two older siblings and a little sister, he was never alone - but today only Shaochung was at home, dad was left to Hong Kong today and mom went shopping with his sister while his brother was at a friend’s home to study for college, and Shaochung had the same goal as them so she wouldn’t ruin it.

“Don’t expect much information, Ruki.” Jian began “Yamaki-san was here a few days ago.”

“What was he doing at your house?”

“...My dad invited him.”

“Oh.”

He really didn’t know if that was an _Oh, is your dad our foil now?_ or just a normal _Oh, that’s cool,_ he decides it’s a mix of two.

He wonders if Terriermon stuck together with Guilmon and Renamon - he probably did, his partner loved company and he’d probably miss Jian even more if he didn’t have friends to annoy, Impmon must be with them too, and Andromon and Marineangemon too, not to mention Culumon...would it be safe to him to bring it back? He was the nearest thing Juri had to a partner and it would be unfair to them to bring their partners back and not him.

“Perhaps Yamaki left some stuff on your dad’s computer, adults tend to underestimate teenagers even more than kids.”

“Forget it, already searched my computer and dad’s, Yamaki-san wouldn’t let information like that pass.” However, he managed to do a quick screenshot that was on Dad’s emails to places where the Digital Activity was higher “I don’t know which of these are still open, considering I took the screenshot yesterday.”

Ruki nodded in agreement before asking.

“And how many nights did it took you to get it, Jian?”

“Four nights without sleeping, it doesn’t matter.” Takato-kun should be on his way now, so they better get their messages done “Who starts?”

“You.” Ruki answered quickly “And then your little sister, then me if Takato hasn’t arrived.”

“How much do you think he will take to get here?”

“He is probably flirting with Juri.”

He knows that it’s bad to laugh, but he does, however, there is something that feels wrong on his insides - and no, it isn’t about Takato’s lack of love life.

“Do you think they are mad at us? I feel bad that I haven’t tried contact with them after that message.”

“It depends of the Digimon, Renamon knows that I’m not a big talker and she isn’t either.” Ruki replied “I think Terriermon can understand too - Don’t know much about Guilmon, though, wouldn’t worry much about it, they can yell at us when they see us.”

Jian agreed, the idea of Renamon yelling at Ruki was hilarious though.

“The strongest place with a Digital Activity is Odaiba.” He almost wants to make a comment, almost, but Ruki looked like she would throw his mom’s expensive vase at his face if he did, so he decided against it “...But that’s too far away, however, Nakano has strong Digital Activity as well, Shibuya is an option too.”

“We must spend the night to see if it works, but nobody is letting teens stay on their own on a hotel."

They would probably find their numbers and ask their families if they know all those kids were alone in a motel and in case they did, they were highly irresponsible.

“I have an aunt that lives on Shibuya, Takato-kun and you can come.”

“What about the others?”

“Two friends is the limit.”

The original plan was bringing all the Tamers together, it would be easier to open the gate so their friends would come to the real world, but apparently, it was going to be just the three of them.

It always is.

He might sound arrogant, but it’s the truth.

“Jian.”

“What?”

“The Digital World is big, how the hell are they going to know where the portal opens?”

He knew it was a big gap on their plan, of all the possible gaps, that was the one he just couldn’t overlook, he knew that the time of both worlds were similar, so that wasn’t a big problem, but the location was the thing that worried him the most - if they arrived alone at Shibuya...well, Guilmon’s scales were bright and red, he wasn’t easy to hide, and he doubted they knew how to get to their Tamers’ homes.

“I guess...we can only trust in them.”

That was the nicest way to say _I have no idea._

“So, it’s like we are blindfolded, in a dark room and we have to hit a target.”

“Yeah.”

“...Well, it’s better than anything we ever had in three years.”

“It’s rare seeing you so optimistic.”

“Shut up and do your message fast, I’ll distract Shaochung.”

* * *

 

He wonders how much he repeated the same words over and over.

He surely must not have said much - his message was short, giving Terriermon the basic instructions of the plan and how much he missed him and that he had to apologize for not messaging often, he’s almost sure he apologized more than he actually explained the plan.

When Takato arrived, the three of them had done their messages - he didn’t ask Ruki what she said, he knows she wouldn’t talk  - and once Takato was done (with his eyes red for all the crying) he re-explained the plan.

 

Today (They didn’t have time for wait, neither did their Digimon) they would travel to Shibuya and stay the night at his aunt’s place, after they were all settled in, they would go out claiming they wanted to explore the city and then open the portal, the digimon would come out (and possibly a few enemies too) and everything would work kinda alright.

“B-But wait...I don’t have my toothbrush with me! Or my clothes!”

“You are kinda slow, kid.” Ruki replied with her typical _Takato stresses me out_ tone “Tell your parents you’re off playing with your friends and that’s it, you can brush your teeth the day after.”

“That’s gross! You don’t brush your teeth every day?”

“I plan on buying one when we leave to Shibuya, I’m not going to go back to my house for a toothbrush, I buy one for you, and that’s all.”

“Ruki, you got your mom’s permission?”

“I got grandma’s. Mom won’t be home in a couple of days, she’s working, the question here is if we’re just gonna show up at your aunt’s house or you’re gonna call her?”

He shot her an unimpressive look, like he was like them, who always left stuff for last, he called her while she was doing her message.

* * *

 

It had been a while since it was just them hanging out together.

Sure, sometimes two of them would meet, but it was more coincidence than actual planning, and as a whole group they had their own sub-groups (all of the boys vs Juri, Ruki and sometimes Shaochung because his little sister had taken liking to Ruki), but the three of them together felt better, it felt like the three of them were equals.

“Googlehead.” Ruki spoke “How was your romantic date with Juri?”

“I-I-It was not a date!”

“Did she kiss you goodbye?”

Takato looked at Jian for support, but Jian was trying to hold back his laugh, Takato stared at him shocked at such betrayal and Jian couldn’t help but shrug in an apology, he could try to tell Ruki to stop her merciless teasing, but if he spoke he would burst into laughter and she wouldn’t take it seriously.

“N-N-No, I mean...she was mostly silent through our trip, almost annoyed, and then I apologized and she started to rant, and I just tried to explain why we did it and well, I think I convinced her, but I guess you will have to deal with that conversation later at some point, Ruki.”

“That’s why I didn’t want to go with her, I told you I didn’t want to mess things out by making her more upset, she was already upset and I think she got the impression we pitied her.” Ruki went quiet for a second “I’ll text her tonight.”

“Sounds like a good idea.”

Sometimes, Jianliang thought he was the only normal one of the three.

“Ruki, texting someone is not a good thing to talk things out.”

“Shut up, grandma.”

It feels awkward sitting between Takato and Ruki every time they argued - which, strangely enough, didn’t happen very often, Jian and Ruki argued way more than Takato and Ruki did - because he when he sits in the middle he knows that is going to be his duty to stop Ruki if she goes too far.

But this isn’t an argument, it’s just one-sided teasing which Takato could deal with (he had grown a backbone these few years) and there are more importants things on his mind, like the inevitable possibility of failure (would they dare to try it again if they failed on their most clear attempt?) or the exuberant triumph he would feel if they succeeded.

Or, that there was someone that looked a lot like him on the train.

__

_No, that’s not it, that’s me._

There were theories about doppelgangers on western cultures - a person who resembled you physically in every single way - they were mostly bringers of bad luck on folklore, and he doesn’t doubt they exist (he has seen way too much to cross out something as impossible) but this person is him, except older.

There's not many differences between present him and current him - he has the same haircut and the only remarkable difference is his high school uniform.

And his eyes.

His defeated eyes.

He couldn’t stop staring at his other self’s eyes, he could feel the brokenness, the sadness, the betrayal this other version of him was feeling whose all together became the sole definition of despair - and he remembers, once again, those doppelgangers folklore tales from Europe, where doppelgangers mean bad luck -.

He hears Takato saying something to him, but he isn’t paying attention, the older him had something that resembled a smile on his face and he spoke.

_Having friends is good, isn’t it._

It’s a pinch on his arm that makes him turn to see Takato - okay, Ruki was the one who did it, but it was probably Takato’s idea -

“We missed the station, Jian.”

“All because of your daydreaming.”

“Sorry, sorry! I was distracted, let’s leave on the next one and then take the train back to Shibuya - but did you guys see…”

There was nobody in front of him.

“See what?”

“...Nothing. It’s just that I-I...saw a pretty girl.”

Takato excitedly asked where the cute girl was and Ruki rolled her eyes so hard Jian was starting to worry she would end up turn blind one day

It’s not the right time to tell them.

But there is something off, and he doesn’t stop thinking about it when he exits the train with his friends to take the right station, he cannot stop thinking about how weird it was, not just the situation of having that oldest version of him talk to him and that no one else did (which was weird enough) but there was something that settled him off.

The train was full of people, they barely managed to get out of it when they exited it due to how crowded it was and the only reason why they got seats it’s because Takato managed to get them at an incredible speed, that’s why it was strange that nobody sat on the seat where he had seen this older, ghost-like Jian person.

Or that the other two seats next to it were also empty too.

* * *

 

His aunt and his uncle didn’t have children, due to reasons that don’t really come to the case, but they loved children and were delighted to Jian to bring up his friends for visit.

It’s not like he was mercilessly bullied - he had an okay school life, but he didn’t have many friends before their adventures as tamers started, but perhaps it was due to Shaochung talking non-stop about her brother’s cool friends that his aunt was so warm towards them, as most pairings that had no children, they had a dog and a cat - and Takato was delighted at the news.

“I’ve always wanted a pet.” He explained as he caressed the dog’s stomach “But my mom wouldn’t let me.”

“You got a Digimon, that’s better.” Ruki replied as the cat rubbed against her leg, it’s surprising because his aunt’s cat hated everyone except his older brother, and yet here it was, being super tight with a girl it had just met.

“Ruki, are you a cat person?” Jian asked.

“Animals aren’t really my thing but…” She gave a quick smile at the cat and resumed her typical expression as she turned to face Jian again “They’re better than dogs.”

“Ruki!” Takato scolded “Do not compare them! Both have their strengths and weakness.”

“Shut up.”

The cat meowed in agreement.

“See?” Ruki grinned “The cat agrees with me.”

“If we bring the Digimons back - I mean...when we do, I think they’d like to play with them.”

Somehow, that lifted up Jian’s spirits.

“Let's do it, guys!”

* * *

 

They failed.

He wonders if it's his fault – if he hadn't brought up wrong information or outdated information, it had been just an embarrassment, standing 30 minutes in front of the area where it had been digital movement before with zero response.

“It's not working.”

It felt awfully bad that Takato said it, he was the only one of the three that was absolutely _convinced_ that the Digimon would come back, he felt like he failed them.

The walk towards his aunt’s house was silent, both Takato and Ruki claimed that it wasn't worthy to go back to their houses at this late hours, and even if they wanted to leave, Jian thinks he would have asked them to do it, sometimes, it’s better to be lonely together.

He realizes that the three of them a method of distraction just in case they failed, he was focused on his new videogame, Ruki was reading a book and Takato was drawing on his notebook.

“So...what are we doing now?” He asked, his eyes still focused on his handheld console.

“I don't know.” Ruki answered.

Takato didn't answer.

“Googlehead, Jian asked us a question.”

“I _know._ ”

“Then answer _it.”_  Jian snapped, fists clenched.  He knows he is going to far – Takato must be the one most affected by their failure, so, quickly, he adds “I'm sorry.”

“It's okay.” Takato said, his voice so distant Jian thinks he might not have heard anything  “Whatever you guys do...I mean...I won't hate you if you give up”.

“You piece of _shit.”_ Ruki snarled – and she is prepared to throw the book at Takato, but decides against it at the end “Don't you ever _dare_ to act like you're the only one wanting to see his partner.”

“ _Well_ , you were the one that thought the entire messages thing with our Digimon was stupid.” Takato retorted.

“ _Congratulations_ on having the emotional state of an eleven year old then, which is not surprised considering you are still a cryba–”

“Enough!” Jian yelled, and he feels like an older brother and it's stupid because he's the youngest of the three “Don't talk like that to each other!”

He can feel the tension on this small room, if he doesn't put a stop to _both_ of them, things are going to get ugly between them, and he doesn't want to get into the fight further because he might take Ruki’s side on it, and he knows neither of them are right, but she summarized how he was feeling at the moment.  

He felt relieved when Ruki left the room and didn't throw the book at them.

He wonders if he should go to her, but decides that Takato is a top priority, Ruki will come back, she always does.

“Takato-kun...I…I'm sorry.”

“It's not your fault.” Takato replied “I guess information screwed us over.”

Jian sighed.

“There will be a next time?”

“I haven't given up yet, but I'm not good at computers like you, I...I mean...we need you for that.” His voice sounds shaky and Jian has a feeling he's about to cry “So...there will be a next time?”

It doesn't take Jian too much to elaborate an answer.

“Of course, as soon as possible.”

“That's good to hear.” Takato said, his tone remained neutral, but maybe it sounded more optimistic “I don't blame you, Jian, I doubt Ruki does either, you're the only reason we could even think of doing this on first place and...I..well, thank you for your attempts, I appreciate that.”

“Don't thank me, Takato-kun.” As Ruki said, Takato wasn't the only one that wanted to see his digimon again “Are we good?”

“We are always good.”

“I will get Ruki now, if you don't mind.”

“Yeah, that would be good.”

He wasn't surprised at all to see that Ruki hadn't gone too far away – this house wasn't too big, she was at the living room, still reading her book and caressing the cat’s head.

“What is what you're reading.”

“An incredibly boring novel; should've taken a Jump Magazine instead, most of them are stupid yet entertaining.”

She put the book down to talk with Jian properly, the cat meowing in protest since she stopped caressing its head as well, it didn't escape Jian that her eyes were a bit red, but he knew better than mention it.

“Hey, I'm sorry.”

“You know it's not _you_ who owes me an apology. I'm not mad at you, I always knew it was a shot in the dark.” She rubbed her temple and sighed “Better than anything we had in years, guess we put so much faith in it that the failure hit us big.”

“Are you mad at Takato?”

“I'm frustrated at him like 80% of the time”.

“You know I don't mean it like that.”

“No, I don't, I guess.” She reflected for a moment and then added “I was right, though”.

“You know how Takato is, and besides, he made Guilmon, he might feel even worse.”

“Don't justify him, Jianliang, don't you dare to underestimate how you feel about Terriermon or how I feel about Renamon…”

“I'm not doing that!”

“Takato does, that's my point.”

He really hates when Ruki has a point.

“Listen, we are really stressed today, can you attempt to not argue with him today?”

“I will try.” She replies “Just because you asked for it.”

Wow.

He didn't expect that.

“I always knew you weren't as tough as you pretended to be.”

“Shut up, Jian.” She punched him lightly on the arm “You're so _annoying_ sometimes.”

“Look who's talking.”

She pretended he didn't say that and turned to see the cat.

“Come with me...what is his name?”

“Kuro.”

“A black cat and it's named Kuro, creative.”

“My aunt’s idea.”

“Kuro, come with me.”

The cat silently walked behind them as they entered Jian’s room again, Takato had returned to his drawing again and then he looked up to exchange stares with Ruki.

“Sorry.” Takato finally said “I did not mean…”

“Forget it, googlehead, it isn't worth the quarrel.” She interrupted “What are you drawing?”

Takato shrugged.

“Nothing in particular, I had an idea but then it just vanished, also, I'm not wearing googles anymore.”

“You're a googlehead even if you're not wearing them.”

“I'm taking it as a compliment.”

“Do what you want.”

And each of them to their own business.

It was good enough, for now.

* * *

 

(He knew that a fact that he was dreaming and that Ruki was probably also sleeping on a futon next to him but…)

_If it hadn't been because of the fact he was on Emergencies and that hospitals are incredibly clean to prevent the infection of the patience he's almost sure he would have thrown up by now._

(Jian this is just a dream, a product of your stress!)

_The way Ruki – who was in kind of a trance, half sleep due to the morphine and half awake because she doesn't want to spend her last moments asleep, her eyes met with his “_ **_Jian, I’m going to die_ ** _.” and he cannot help but whisper._

_“Don't say that.”_

_(_ Where is Takato-kun on this).

_Takato is gone and he cannot lose both of his best friends in a matter of days (he doesn't know where Takato is, better said, he knows that he's gone but he doesn't want to accept it.)_

(This is somehow related to Takato-kun’s nightmares?).

_“Who did this?”_

_He knows Ruki shouldn't talk – she most likely cannot, but he knows that she wants to tell him; a warning._

_He approached her bed and with all the strength she had left..._

_(_ Where is her other arm?)

_...she whispered a name to him._

(I can't hear.)

_If he weren't at a hospital, he would have screamed._

_“_ He doesn't wake up.” He heard Takato say.

“Throw a pillow at him.” Ruki replied “Yeah, Shaochung, it's Ruki.”

Jian felt incredibly relieved to hear their voices, he slowly woke up, not wanting to get hit by a pillow, Takato quickly put his hand on the other’s shoulder and he's about to asking him if he is okay and he's about to ask Ruki why she's using his phone when her expression changes.

“—What!? Are you serious? Yours too? They look like jelly…? Do you know if she…” a smile formed on her lips “So she went straight to my house? What about…? Got it, thanks, sending him your way, take care.”

Takato had the biggest smile in the world.

“You were talking with…”

“Shaochung and Terriermon, or rather, Gummymon, they're on their baby level, Chocomon is there too.”

Takato just couldn't resist it and pulled both of them into a hug.

“WE DID IT GUYS!” They probably didn't, but that didn't matter right now “What about Gigimon and Viximon?”

“They arrived at Guilmon’s home, that's where Takato has to go and…” Takato squeezed them even harder “And Viximon is waiting for me at home.”

“WE DID IT, GUYS!” And Takato was crying now, inevitable.

“Save your tears for your meeting with Gigimon, idiot.” Ruki punched him in the arm playfully “Might rn out of them on your way home.”

“Ruki, I am really sorry about yesterday, I didn't mean it yesterday, but I do now, I was an asshole…”

“I told you that didn't matter.”

“And that's mostly your job, Ruki.” Jian interrupted in a teasing tone.

This time it was his turn to get punched in the arm.

“As I was saying, don't worry about it, that doesn't matter now, does it?”

“You're right, I’d hug you again, but I know you're not a fan of it.”

“As long as you understand, let's go.”

They left his aunt’s house as fast as possible, the entire trip was in silence – probably planning what were they gonna say and how the reunion was going to be, they just opened the mouth to wave each other goodbye.

He was the happiest he had been in _years,_ he's not sure if it worked thanks to them or because of fate being good to them for a change, but that didn't matter, because Terrier– Gummymon was back and so was the rest of them, yet, he couldn't shake up the bad feeling and wonder why the Digimon coming back felt like something wrong with was coming with them, it almost felt like he was betraying his own emotions.

As he stood in front of his apartment, he tried to make the connection between his dream and the scene on the train…

He opened his door and wondered…

“Welcome home!” Shaochung greeted, hugging Chocomon.

“Welcome home.” Chocomon repeated.

“MOMANTAI!” Gummymon giggled as he jumped on Jian’s arms.

**  
**He was wondering about...nah, it doesn't matter.


End file.
